Chocolate Avocado Mousse / Scale Scare / Fancy Loo

Vegan Chocolate Avocado Mousse

To skip the blog ramblings and go straight to the recipe, CLICK HERE

I'm back! Back in my own little kitchen, making stuff.  I think the red onion missed me a lot. You may also spot the bag of what I think is magnesium phosphate.  You'd be probably quite surprised what passes for normal in a nutritionist's kitchen.

The trip home was uneventful, except for the koru lounge loo.  That was really something.

Slightly more eventful was getting on the scales this morning and having a serious moment of wonder at my body's ability to stack on the lard when I'm not paying attention. I gained 3kg in 10 days.  I'd like to blame the avocadoes, but probably it was the awesome chocolate croissants, movenpick icecream, pasta, and the eat-fest at Moo Chow Chow. Oh, and the wine. Wine and wheat together are the duo of death when it comes to scale scare.

Luckily, dealing with such scale blips has become par-for-the-course in the ongoing saga of my long-term weightloss maintenance.  I even wrote an article about it, and it's one of the most popular links on the blog. It seems that I'm not the only one constantly balancing the urge to stuff my face with the desire to fit my skinny jeans.  It's a common first-world problem.  A very boring problem; let's talk about food.

So.  I made an avocado-based dinner.  The first course was bacon-wrapped avocadoes, and the dessert was a chocolate avocado mousse. You've seen this before, but I only took one pic.

Click here for printable recipe

(Makes 4)

Blend the Following in a Food Processor until smooth

·         The flesh of four medium avocadoes

·         150 grams (approx. 3/4  cup) coconut oil (melted on stovetop on a low heat)

·         150 grams  (1.25 cups) cocoa

·         About 200g of sweetener. I used maple syrup, but the amount necessary will vary depending on what you use and how sweet you like it.  Taste test regularly as you blend the sweetener  in.  You can use a liquid or powdered sweetener both work well.

·         Tablespoon vanilla essence

·         Pinch of salt

Once fully blended, divide the mix into four bowls or glasses and let it set in the refrigerator. This takes about an hour. If it becomes too firm, simply remove it from the fridge and let it stand on the bench until it’s how you want it to be.

This rich dessert is fine on its own, but is also great with fruit (berries, or bananas, as in the pic).  You can add a dollop of whipped coconut cream, or even real cream if you are unconcerned about the vegan-ness. You can make a less sweet one and then drizzle maple syrup or honey over it.  All of these are equally divine and will cause an avocado mousse addiction issue. That’s ok though. It happens to everyone. I will never judge you.

To finish up, I want to mention something that can happen if you don't blend the ingredients for long enough, or if you are using a stick blender or other device that isn't quite up to the task.

If the coconut oil settles around the edges, it's not a disaster.  Just catch it before it fully sets and stir it in with a fork.  That works just fine.

:D